16-point agenda to position India as a preferred medical tourism destination

An excellent Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) report ‘Advantage India: Healthcare Starts Here’ recommends a 16-point agenda to position India as a preferred healthcare destination.

To leverage the inherent comparative and competitive advantages as a nation and position India as a preferred healthcare destination, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has made wide-ranging recommendations to capitalize on the available opportunities in medical tourism.

FICCI has a 16-point agenda for action:

1. Simplified and relaxed medical visa regulations.
2. Multiple entry medical visas to facilitate follow-up treatment.
3. Promotion of medical tourism by all Indian embassies.
4. Medical facilitation desk at Indian airports for medical visa holders.
5. Faster immigration facilities at Indian airports.
6. Checklist withe every medical visa.
7. Access to ambulance and stretchers at airports.
8. Fiscal laws to be relaxed for genuine foreign patients.
9. Specialist agencies to promote and improve Indian medical tourism.
10. Single consultative platform representing all ministries involved in medical tourism, to endorse and encourage medical tourism at a national level.
11. Nationally authenticated/recognized government medical tourism website.
12. PR campaign by the government to promote Indian medical tourism.
13. Proper training of nurses as they form the backbone of any treatment requiring hospitalization.
14. Simplification of procedures for Indian doctors working overseas and foreign doctors in India.
15. Improve infrastructure.
16. Promote NABH platform globally

The current problems with the Indian medical tourism industry include-

• No effective marketing strategies.
• Strict and lengthy visa process for foreign patients.
• Lack of credible information.
• Non-availability of insurance portability.
• Highly unorganized sector.
• Not enough direct flights from several countries that supply most medical tourists.
• Too many unregulated middlemen including many crooks and touts.

FICCI has set up a working group to conduct a background study and develop a framework on which a multi-stakeholder medical tourism council can be created. The overall aim of the council is to position India as a preferred healthcare destination.

The recommendations in detail

1. Simplified and relaxed medical visa regulations

The medical visa process for India is often a lengthy procedure taking 5 days to 2 months depending upon the country of visa application. This long delay encourages patients to consider other countries over India for their treatment. The Indian High Commission in Nigeria insists on a patient’s personal presence at the time of medical visa and in Uzbekistan the appointment system is complex with a long waiting period.

Action:

• A comprehensive, uniform and simplified check list for medical travellers along with all the relevant information for medical visas should be displayed at Indian embassies everywhere.
  

  2. Multiple entry medical visas to facilitate follow-up treatment

  Patients who have to come back for medical follow-up post treatment have to again go through the tedious process of visa approval. Entry for patients from a few countries is restricted into India and they are not granted a visa until 3 months before the travel date.

Action:

• Multiple entry medical visas to facilitate follow-up treatments. Grant multiple entry medical visas upon recommendation from healthcare provider.
  

  3. Promotion of medical tourism by all Indian embassies

  While some Indian Embassies promote medical tourism, most do not, and all operate in their own way.

Action:

• All Indian Embassies should hold promotional campaigns and road shows and engage in information dissemination to promote India as a medical travel destination.
  

  4. Faster immigration facilities at Indian airports

  There is a need for a medical facilitation desk at all Indian airports for medical visa holders to eliminate the problem of touts. The absence of such desks at airports leads to communication issues so patients are influenced by touts who guide them to a hospital of their choice for commercial benefit.

Action:

• Setting up of medical facilitation desk at Indian airports to eliminate the role of touts and middlemen and facilitate smooth transition of the patients during immigration clearance as well as providing assistance in identifying the hospital where they are seeking treatment.
  

  5. Faster immigration facilities at Indian airports

  There is a need for faster immigration facilities at Indian airports, as medical travellers have to go through the normal immigration process. As many of them have a serious medical condition, faster immigration facilities will help in making them feel more comfortable.

Action:

• Speedy immigration clearance/separate immigration counter for medical travellers.
  

  6. Checklist provided at the time of grant of any medical visa

  An advisory form or checklist should be provided at the time of the grant of every medical visa. This is of vital importance as many medical travellers reach India with incomplete documentation.

Actions:

• Proper advisory forms or checklists should be provided to all medical travellers at the time of the grant of every medical visa, including instructions to carry all medical records, a copy of the visa invitation letter and their doctor’s recommendations.
• Special checklist for patients travelling for high-end treatment that involves multiple legalities, including kidney transplants and liver transplants, to avoid problems in getting clearance for treatment on arrival in India.
• Advice to warn prospective patients about unreliable touts.
  

  7. Access to ambulances and stretchers at airports.

  The airport ambulance takes patients from the aircraft and transfers them to private ambulance outside the airport premises, which is inconvenient for critically ill patients.

Action:

• Private hospital ambulances should be allowed entry onto the tarmac with prior approval for critically ill patients reaching India for treatment.
  

  8. Fiscal laws to be relaxed for genuine foreign patients

  Fiscal laws to be relaxed for genuine foreign patients, allowing them to transfer money to India, in case of additional requirements. Transferring money to India for medical treatment is a complex procedure. Uzbekistan has strict laws and patients lose a lot of time in getting permission for funds transfer to India for their treatment. Patients from Iraq are unable to wire transfer funds due to regulations and have to carry cash. These procedural delays make it difficult for medical travellers to get timely treatment.

Actions:

• Increase wire transfer limit for funds transfer to India.
• Sign treaties and agreements with foreign countries to ease funds transfer to India for medical treatment.
• Hospital recommendation should be considered as proof for ease of funds transfer.
  

  9. Specialist agencies to promote and improve Indian medical tourism

  Agencies need to be created to regularly meet and discuss ways to promote and improve Indian medical tourism. Representatives from the government, public and private sectors need to participate.

Actions:

• Regular meetings and updates to help streamline procedures and better plan for growth and success of medical tourism.
• Multi-sector participative meetings should be encouraged for common learning.
  

  10. Single consultative platform

  There are many ministries involved in medical tourism and they act independently so that an action by one may help medical tourism while action by another may hinder it. Rather then promoting their own agendas they should work together, so need a forum to do this.

Action:

• A single consultative platform, representing all the ministries involved in medical tourism, is required to aid endorsement and facilitation of medical tourism at national level.
  

  11. National government medical tourism website

  A nationally authenticated/recognized government medical tourism website with all the information any medical or health tourist needs related to various healthcare options available, credible healthcare service providers as well as a ranking of facilities. There are many online sites, many of them providing unapproved information so patients can be misled by touts posing as authorized representatives of Indian hospitals.

Action:

• A nationally recognized health portal to be set up by the government.
  

  12. Extensive PR campaign by the government

  There needs be a global full government PR campaign to promote India as a preferred medical tourism destination and spread the word that Indian healthcare providers are accredited by a credible and internationally recognized authority-NABH. This could be on the same lines as the lines as the “Incredible India” campaign.

Action:

• Awareness through multiple channels of a global government campaign to help Indian hospitals become more credible in medical tourism.
• The ministry of tourism should initiate the medical tourism campaign on the lines of “Incredible India”, as a promotional activity launched globally.
  

  13. Proper training of nurses

  Nurses form the backbone of any treatment requiring hospitalization.
  Nursing care plays a pivotal role in the smooth functioning of a hospital.
  Action:

Nurses need to be trained well and opportunities for further learning need to be provided to them so that they are au fait with the latest developments in nursing care.
14. Simplification of procedures for doctors
There are complex requirements when Indian doctors want to work or operate outside India. This is often a lengthy and tedious process. The same is true of overseas doctors seeking to work in India. There is need for facilitation of funds transfer from India, especially for countries like Iraq.

Actions:

• Ministry of health to initiate dialogue with other country regulators for express grant of licences to Indian doctors with option for longer validity periods.
• Similar arrangement should be made available to doctors who want to go to India for training, thereby creating champions to promote India in their home countries.
  

  15. Improve the infrastructure

  Improving basic infrastructure, such as roads and airport facilities, will help in doing away with the ‘developing country’ image of India, leading to efficient and faster immigration clearance for medical travellers and also reduce the time taken to get to the hospital from the airport.

   16. Promote NABH globally

JCI accreditation is given more value by international travellers as this accreditation has achieved a global visibility. Not having JCI sometimes becomes a roadblock for Indian hospitals. People do not understand that NABH, the highest accreditation followed in India, is as internationally authorised as JCI.

Action:

• NABH needs to be recognized and promoted on a global platform